String Theory_ Cohesion (Book 1) - Jeffrey Lang [92]
Quickly looking around, B’Elanna saw that they were in a stand of low, scrubby trees, all with bare branches. Several boulders, none more than a meter high, were bunched up against the tree trunks as if they had tumbled down the hillside and been stopped.
Torres twisted from side to side, searching for movement in the gray dawn. The sun could not have risen more than a few minutes ago, so the blinding glare she had seen when first opening her eyes must have been a result of the pupil being too far open. Remembering the Borg appliance, she willed the aperture open and carefully scanned the horizon for signs of movement. An idle internal question—I wonder if I can see in infrared?—flitted through her mind, and suddenly the world was painted in bands of red and blue.
The only living thing besides herself in the immediate vicinity was Kaytok, barely visible in his hiding place, but gesturing for her to stay low, a suggestion she completely ignored. Scaling the steep hillside as quickly as she could, B’Elanna yanked the Monorhan up by the front of his jacket and rasped, “Why did you attack me?”
Frantically scanning from side to side, more afraid of the attackers he could not see than the one he could, Kaytok whispered, “I didn’t. I was trying to protect you. I smelled patrols last night, and in my haste to pull you to safety, I may have misjudged my own strength.”
“There’s no one nearby,” B’Elanna said, tapping her eye. “This says so. Now tell me what’s been going on or I’ll make you wish someone was.”
Visibly relaxing, sagging back against the boulder, Kaytok said in normal tones, “I don’t know. I don’t remember. When I awoke, you were unconscious. When I couldn’t wake you, I carried you up here.” He looked around. “In the dark, it looked sheltered. I thought about starting a fire, but was afraid someone might see it.”
Pointing at the Monorhan’s small backpack, B’Elanna asked, “Do you have my weapon? My tricorder?”
Nodding, Kaytok opened the bag and handed the equipment back to her. “I was afraid they’d fall off your belt while I was carrying you and we’d never be able to find them.” B’Elanna had to concede that this sounded like a sensible precaution and not an excuse to rob her.
“Do you have any water?” she asked.
Kaytok handed her one of their two water skins and she took a long pull, clearing the dust from her mouth, then gently touching what she suspected must be bruises on her throat. “How long was I out?” she asked.
“A couple hours, I think. Hard to say since I was out myself for a while.” He examined her more carefully, searching for injuries, B’Elanna suspected. “Did I really attack you?”
B’Elanna nodded. “You began to foam at the mouth. The last thing I remember is you trying to throttle me.” The memory was dim, but she tried to recall the last moments before her world dimmed. “And you were talking, but not to me. You said, ‘Sem.’ ”
“Sem?” Kaytok’s neck contracted until his chin was practically lying on his chest. “I said, ‘Sem’?”
“I take it Sem is not a nice word,” B’Elanna said.
“It’s not a word, it’s a person.”
“A bad person?”
“Yes. Or, at least, bad for me.” He waved at her to sit down. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.” Opening his own water bottle, he took a small sip.
“I’m not worried.” And she wasn’t. She would keep a closer watch on the Monorhan now, but B’Elanna didn’t feel he was a threat.
“I’m not the only one who was talking in his sleep,” he said. “What’s a Tom?”
“Tom is a who, not a what. He’s my…my partner, I guess you’d say.”
Kaytok snorted derisively. “Interesting coincidence. Sem was my partner.”
B’Elanna thought back. “The one who was part of your group, then left? And she works for the